FYI, the lottery is a regressive tax disproportionately paid by the people who can least afford it, and little of the proceeds actually go to community funding.
We should fund community services by taxing the rich, not by conning working people into thinking they'll become rich.
State Lotteries here use large portions of profits to help pay for primary schools and roads etc. Is that not what most states do with it?
@rbreich thank you! I don't know why more people don't talk about this.
I call it the "math tax" since it's a tax on people who don't understand expected value.
That ‘have to spend our budget this year or our budget will be reduced next year!’ aspect to school funding always seemed a bit crazy and desperate. Of course the spiritual intent was more funding for a larger budget to start from. New Funds.. What happened was the ‘lotteries fund schools’ notion was used to reduce eliminate other taxes that previously existed to fund schools.
@Chancerubbage @rbreich
I'm my state, the lottery money does go to education, as advertised.
HOWEVER...
The tax money from the General Fund, that previously would have gone to education, now is used for other projects that would have been more difficult to fund.
Net result is education budget stays the same. Classic bait and switch.
@rbreich
Good to note lotteries are like taxes, though I like the joke "tax for being poor at math". A friend (who had studied psychology) said the tickets were like buying "hope".
However I think the real problem is the reporting. Lots of news about winners and no news about all those losers. Someone had to win, but lots more people had to lose, and they lost more money than the winner or there wouldn't be a lottery. Seeing news about a winner should be like winning the lottery?
All gambling is a tax on people who are bad at math...
"Casino Night" is a common charity fund-raiser. To insure a profit, the games are simplified and the odds skew more powerfully to the house.
Back 1979, I went to a Casino Night and computed that one modified game actually strongly favored the player. I quickly showed my math to the event director. She said, "Well, maybe it's more fun if some people win."
So I had fun. Made over $100 before they closed it down.
@clusterfcku @juglugs @rbreich
Quite. People have smartened up since then. Now, a proper Casino Night sells you chips for money. You bet the chips and either lose them, or win raffle tickets you can drop in boxes for the prizes you want a chance of winning. The house keeps all the money you spend, and knows it will never "lose" more than the total cost of the raffle prizes.
You could still net a profit, by buying a few chips, and winning a big raffle prize. But the house net is predetermined.
The lottery sucks blood from the poor. At the same time, it proves the claim that a government can allow itself to do what it will put you in jail for doing yourself. Some way to cultivate respect for democracy, eh?
Lotteries are a tax on the gullible, like any other form of gambling.
Little of it goes to amateur sports, social programs, or helping the unfortunate.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/lotteries-like-mega-millions-and-powerball-are-a-suckers-bet-and-a-gift-to-the-ultra-rich
https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2024/04/02/the-economics-of-american-lotteries
https://www.statista.com/statistics/215265/sales-of-us-state-and-provincial-lotteries/
A game for losing...
https://www.econlib.org/adam-smith-on-lotteries/
@rbreich @msbw I’m usually in agreement with Mr Reich, but not on this one. No one is forcing anyone to play these lotteries, and as far as I know, all are required to show the odds. I reject the notion that I or anyone else knows better than lottery players what they should or shouldn’t do.
People will *always* gamble, legally or not. You might as well run a gov’t lottery to put some of that money to public goods instead of into criminal’s pockets
@rbreich
Lotteries are pejoratively called a "tax on the stupid" by some who've been involved in their design. Tells you all you need to know. 😕
That out of the way, how about an annual (1 time/year only) national (run by US government) lottery — so a big pot) where proceeds go to an education/vocational training pool — and every child in US gets a share at birth. $ grows & is used btwn ages 18-25. Think reverse Social Security. Details TBD, but the numbers work. Adults can buy 1 tkt/yr @ $5.
@rbreich
There's more —
Let the IRS administer this lottery. It gets some small share of proceeds from the lottery both to run it and to enhance the agency's ability to collect taxes (esp. from wealthy tax dodgers). Oh, and it is possible to buy more than one ticket — one for $5, maybe 2 for $15, 3 for $25.
I don't like lotteries or gambling, but both are here and probably not disappearing anytime soon. At least build good policy around the former. Also collect taxes from wealth scofflaws.
@rbreich How can we find out how lottery revenue is distributed within a state? Such an interesting observation, not the regressiveness of the lottery, but which communities are actually receiving lottery funds vs communities buying lottery tickets.
Is there an expert out there to learn from?
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